IP: Positive TSA experience

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Paul Saffo <psaffo () iftf org>
> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> Dave-
>
> I had my first encounter with a TSA (US govt Transportation Security Agency)
> security checkpoint at JFK airport last friday.  And I was very, very
> impressed.  The right mix of professional, respectful and efficiently
> thorough. They smiled. They greeted passengers. They exuded a relaxed
> confidence and control. Utterly different from the minimum wage
> rent-a-clowns they are replacing.  And --this is the big surprise-- the
> experience was also better than the norm at overseas airports such as
> Heathrow, Frankfurt or Hong Kong.
>
> The difference is customer service. If banks ran the way airport security is
> traditionally run, every depositor would be treated as a potential
> bank-robber when they walked in the door. TSA has reversed this attitude --
> their posture seems to be to treat the flying public as their customers.
> They weren't wary or authoritarian; they were welcoming. This has never been
> the case with Argenbreit and their ilk, but frankly, it has also never been
> the case overseas where a para-military/tough cop attitude prevails, even at
> great airports like Frankfurt. For the first time in two decades (and nearly
> two million miles) of flying, I left the TSA security area feeling like a
> citizen and not a suspect.
>
> And none of this customer-friendliness seems to come at a cost of
> thoroughness.  To the contrary, it appears to further basic security goals.
> For example, when they ask a passenger to remove their shoes, they take the
> passenger to a roped-off area that has chairs and carpet. After the
> now-sitting passenger removes their shoes, the screener then also wands
> their extended foot and lower leg to determine if there is anything metallic
> hidden under their socks.  Admittedly, the sight has an Orwellian cast
> (imagine a shoe store in "1984"), but if I have to remove my shoes, I'd
> still prefer this to hopping around in stocking feet on a concrete floor in
> the middle of a mass of traveling humanity.
>
> Now, this is merely a sample of one, but if my experience with JFK security
> is typical, TSA's next challenge will be juggling visits by airport
> delegations from around the world, eager to see what security done right
> looks like.  And, I should add, more than a few police departments could
> learn a lesson or two from the TSA as well.
>
> The TSA url is: http://www.tsa.dot.gov/
>
> -p
> ----------------------------------------
> The nature of reality is this:
> It is hidden, and it is hidden, and
> it is hidden."        - Rumi
>
> Paul Saffo
> Institute For The Future
> 2744 Sand Hill Rd.
> Menlo Park, CA 94025
> v: 650-854-6322  f:650-854-7850
> Direct: 650-233-9521
> psaffo () iftf org
> www.saffo.com
> www.iftf.org

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